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A new approach to analyzing and designing new ion conductors - a key component of rechargeable batteries - could accelerate the development of high-energy lithium batteries, and possibly other energy storage and delivery devices such as fuel cells, researchers say.

"This technology is too important for us to keep to ourselves and rely on our own capabilities to bring to market. Instead, we will allow broad access through the normal lithium ion and automotive supply chain," said Brian Morin, co-Founder and CEO of Soteria.

With increased use of renewables, resiliency issues, and sustainability concerns, there's an opportunity for technology to play a central role in helping energy companies adjust to the varying regulatory and pricing demands of the market

The five-ton flywheel stores electricity as rotational kinetic energy and is capable of charging and discharging for multiple duty cycles per day with no loss of capacity. The environmentally friendly system is 98 percent steel that can be recycled at the end of its 30-year

Jeremy Hodges & Anna Hirtenstein for Bloomberg Markets: The London-based private-equity firm is seeking to raise 100 million pounds from the initial public offering expected later this month on the London Stock Exchange. The fund will invest in large-scale batteries.

Utilities and system operators are searching for cost-effective and reliable solutions. I think energy storage - batteries in particular - are at price points now where they represent a cost effective solution.

To convince investors of the business case, energy storage must deliver a high return on investment in terms of substantial savings and operational advantages. Equally, there can be no reduction in reliability and power quality.

Utility companies have mastered integrating solar and wind, the main utility-scale renewables, into the power grid. Integrating distributed renewable resources--such as rooftop solar, Tesla Powerwalls, micro CHPs - is still a challenge.

Europe in particular is witnessing a new PV boom. In 2018, experts expect deployment to exceed 10 GW for the first time in years. Last year the European solar market already recorded annual growth of 28 percent, based on deployment of 8.61 GW.